Home
News
- The COVID-19 pandemic has trembled the economical status of many nations.
- Qatar’s Fintech strategy widely involves the issuance of a central bank digital currency.
The COVID-19 pandemic has trembled the economical status of many nations. Countries like the US, Brazil, and some in Africa have been badly affected by the pandemic. A huge percentage of people have lost their jobs with the verge of price inflation. Qatar which currently has the third-largest GDP per capita in the world has decided to move forward with its national financial technology strategy which includes the second cheapest solar energy. The project will be fueled by Mizuho Bank and the state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The main aim of the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation through this project is to increase the percentage of the renewal energy source in its entire electricity generation to 20%.
Importance of Fintech has Surfaced During the Pandemic
The CEO of the Qatar Financial Centre, Yousuf Al-Jaida has elaborated the importance of financial technology that has been brought forward during the pandemic. Yousuf has ensured that they carry on to develop the FinTech infrastructure in the country. They are looking forward to collaborating with other international fintech companies including those from the US and integrate them into Qatar’s budding financial ecosystem using QFC’s fintech licences and other range of products. As of 2019, QFC grew by almost 35%. Currently, it has a client count of over 900 having both financial and non-financial background.
Fintech Strategy Includes Issuance of a CBDC
Qatar’s Fintech strategy widely involves the issuance of a central bank digital currency. With the Comptroller office of the US, allowing banks to explore the digital dollar and China, beginning pilot tests for the digital Yen, a CBDC has become a need or rather a scope of interest of every nation during this pandemic. The QCB representative said that the Board warmly welcomes safe technological innovation to enhance the economic stability of the country.
Everything to be Carried Out in Compliance to the AML and Anti-terrorist Financing Policies
Qatar has joined hands with several countries to impose stricter regulations on anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing policies. In this respect, the QCB had adopted new laws in 2019 to strictly comply with the AML and FT policies. Consequently, all transactions including cryptocurrency were banned until further notices. Moreover, the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority has defined virtual asset services as the exchange between conventional fiat currency and virtual assets, the exchange between one or more virtual assets, storage of virtual assets, and so on. This is done for the use of QCB circulars and QFCRA and QFMA notices. However, the services and tokens under the QFMA, QCB, and QFCRA were not affected by the ban.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
